Monia Chokri to head Camera d'Or jury at Cannes Film Festival

Washington DC [US], May 9 : Actress, director and screenwriter Monia Chokri has been named president of the Camera d'Or jury at the upcoming Cannes Film Festival, according to Variety.

The award is given to a first work across the official selection as well as in the Critics' Week and Directors' Fortnight sections.

"A debut film is a dizzying experience, a defining moment when the soul seeks its form in images," she said in a statement, according to Variety.

Chokri, known for her performances in' The Age of Darkness' and 'Heartbeats', made her directorial debut in 2019 with 'A Brother's Love', which won the Jury Coup de Coeur prize in the Un Certain Regard section at Cannes, as per the outlet.

She later directed Babysitter and The Nature of Love, which premiered in Un Certain Regard in 2023 and went on to win the Cesar Award for Best Foreign Film the following year.

The 79th Festival de Cannes will take place from May 12 to 23 in Cannes, France

Reacting to her appointment, Chokri described a debut film as a transformative experience for filmmakers.

"It is a second birth the awakening of the artist within. An act of truth, it exposes our fragility. And the more the film reveals itself to the world, the more power it gains. It is the rare freedom of being fully oneself," she added, according to Variety.

The filmmaker will be joined on the Camera d'Or jury by cinematographer Michel Benjamin, film critic Cedric Coppola, director and screenwriter Marine Francen, and Christophe Massie, deputy CEO of Eclair by Netgem.

The jury members have been selected from associations linked to the Camera d'Or jury, including the French Association of Cinematographers, the French Union of Film Critics, the Society of Film Directors, and the Federation of the Film, Audiovisual and Multimedia Industries, according to Variety.

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